Soulstar77A said:

1725topp said:

*

I never said that Serpan had been contacted by Prince or Prince's legal team prior to this point. If you read clearly, you will notice that I typed "the fans in general not Serpan". Thus, I said that Prince has made it clear to "his fans" for years that he does not want people doing what Serpan has been doing. Whether I agree with Prince or not is not the issue for me. If someone tells you not to do something and you continue doing it, how do you expect them to react?

I expect them to react professional and with just a little bit of class!

But thats probably too much to ask for from a grumpy old and washed-up midget...

Prince is not god, this is not a sect, he's not our cult-leader! Life is no picnic!

The best part is where the compare the "symbol" to the "Coca Cola" logo

It's some sort of miracle that he got the copyright on this thing anyway, since it's just a plain copy of some century old alchemical symbols...

[Edited 7/28/13 4:41am]

*

You do realize that your overly emotional ranting makes you look like the crazy loon..right? Also, can you be reasonable enough to address one topic rather than all your neurotic rants as to why you hate Prince? Are you angry because you no longer like Prince's music, or are you angry because of the issue with Sepan? Your illogical ranting makes it difficult to determine. Also, whether or not you agree with his symbol being granted a copyright is immaterial and is just another illogical, overly emotional rant. So, let's see. You expect someone else to react with tact and class when you can't do the same, and you think that others have a problem?

*

Now, allow me to restate my position, which you are missing because either you can't read or you are too emotional or illogical to comprehend. As I have stated throughout this tread, Prince could have handled this issue better, but how many times does someone have to tell you, him, me, us what he does and does not want people to do in their support of him before you, him, me, us get a clue? That's just simple logic and has nothing to do with Prince being god or this being a sect, or Prince being our cult-leader. It's about some of you overly emotional, overly delusional people who want to be connected to Prince in a way that he clearly does not want to be connected to you, him, me, or us. Or, to put it another way: He's just not that into you, him, me, us, which is cool to me because all I want is music; the rest means nothing to me. You may now continue beating your crazy ass head against the brick of your insanity.

Yes, I'm illogical, neurotic, crazy, angry, insane and way too emotional ...

GoldenParachute said:

To the lame 1% of fans that keep trying to justify 3EG's/Princes lousy behavior, have a seat. What exactly has Prince asked his fans NOT to do that Serpan was guilty of? Aside from Serpan saying he did not get any personal memo from management, what has Serpan done except for being an enthusiastic, friendly, dedicated, loyal fan to Prince? He didnt deserve to be talked to that way no matter how you want to legitimize it. He was singled out, amongst thousands of other fans for using a symbol and forbidden to ever use it again. 3EG could have left it alone after the first "demand", but they chose to extend it further than necessary by the other 3 demands that were pompous and petty. I would feel humiliated if I were Serpan.

*

N'all playa, if you overly emotional, delusional people can continue to rant, I can continue to point out just how overly emotional and delusional y'all are. While I have said that Prince could have handled it better, I have also said that if you do something that someone asks you not to do you can't be surprised if they react negatively. The fact that Serpan was "singled out, amongst thousands of other fans for using a symbol" doesn't make one bit of difference. If five people are speeding on a highway and the patrol officer only stops one of us, then my excuse can't be "what about the other four people?," especially if there is a sign that clearly displays the speeding limit. The only reason you or Serpan should feel humiliated is because you continued to do something Prince has consistently asked his fans not to do. Whether we think we are being "enthusiastic, friendly, dedicated, loyal fans" is, again, immaterial because Prince clearly doesn't want the help because he clearly doesn’t seem to want the same things for his career as so many people on this site think he should have and think, insanely, that it is their job to force him to have. So, I don't waste my time doing something that the dude has made clear for twenty years that he doesn't want done. Keep touching that hot ass stove, and keep getting burned, it’s your own fault.

Soulstar77A said:

Yes, I'm illogical, neurotic, crazy, angry, insane and way too emotional ...

*

That's the first sane thing some of y'all have said. Acceptance is the first step to recovery. :^)

kewlschool said:

3EG seems to be on target with this one, but 3EG should have handled it better and with class. I totally feel for Serp too. You get excited about an artist and you want to share it with the world. But the artist doesn't. So, do what your artist wants, not what you want.

Why?

GoldenParachute said:

Se7en said:

1725topp said:

You guys should keep going, he might play another throwaway track on some obscure local digital radio - isn't that what usually happens.

AFine1 said:

1725topp said:

*

N'all playa, if you overly emotional, delusional people can continue to rant, I can continue to point out just how overly emotional and delusional y'all are. While I have said that Prince could have handled it better, I have also said that if you do something that someone asks you not to do you can't be surprised if they react negatively. The fact that Serpan was "singled out, amongst thousands of other fans for using a symbol" doesn't make one bit of difference. If five people are speeding on a highway and the patrol officer only stops one of us, then my excuse can't be "what about the other four people?," especially if there is a sign that clearly displays the speeding limit. The only reason you or Serpan should feel humiliated is because you continued to do something Prince has consistently asked his fans not to do. Whether we think we are being "enthusiastic, friendly, dedicated, loyal fans" is, again, immaterial because Prince clearly doesn't want the help because he clearly doesn’t seem to want the same things for his career as so many people on this site think he should have and think, insanely, that it is their job to force him to have. So, I don't waste my time doing something that the dude has made clear for twenty years that he doesn't want done. Keep touching that hot ass stove, and keep getting burned, it’s your own fault.

Can you point out to me where Prince has said he does not "allow" fans to tweet what goes on in the chat room, or have a cartoon image of themselves wearing a symbol necklace that is sold at every concert and for which Prince has profited?

*

Selective or feigned nativity will get you nowhere. Over the years Prince has made it clear that he is overly--often insanely--protective of his imaging, regardless to how fans feel about it. So, Prince has made it clear that anything that the thinks may come close to infringement will be attacked. That's doesn't mean that fans can't be upset if they think Prince has crossed the line, but at this juncture in history you can't be surprised. And, for me, the best thing to do is to accept that this dude is overly protective of his imaging and promotion, not engage in any use of his imaging, and just enjoy what work from him that I enjoy.

2020 said:

So stop, treating Serp like the enemy you dumbasses Serp has done nothing but help promote all of P and 3EG's efforts He is THE source of finding out what is really going on Here's a clue for you 3EG... What Serp provides both here and on Twitter is EXACTLY what we want. I recommend a Prince boycott until Serp is allowed to post freely once again.

You start first.

I've been a Prince fan from the start and always stayed away from being negative towards him. But I am very disappointed in the actions towards Serpan. His posts nor his behavior were used for personal gain. Like others have said a lot of stuff we might not have seen if not for him . They should have approached him directly with any issues and not on a chat.

It shows how out of touch his camp is, because there are other places that are ripping him off with bootlegs etc. and they are still out in plane sight. Attacking fans is not a good way to have a relationship with your community. I a very disappointed

1725topp said:

GoldenParachute said:

1725topp said:

*

Selective or feigned nativity will get you nowhere

Nativity like in Birth of Jesus Christ?

AFine1 said:

Can you point out to me where Prince has said he does not "allow" fans to tweet what goes on in the chat room, or have a cartoon image of themselves wearing a symbol necklace that is sold at every concert and for which Prince has profited?

Exactly. Obviously many of us (probably most of us) who have been around for a while are not surprised, but it doesn't mean that we aren't still allowed to express our disappointment.

Setting aside for the moment the (in my opinion, insane) notion that the fans are somehow required to comply to Prince's every frivolous request, where and when did 3EG before this incident tell all the fans that they don't want anyone spreading the word about the livestreams, because they "prefer a smaller audience"?

In that case, they should probably stop tweeting about it, and the band members should stop referring to it on their tweets and Facebook pages as well...

1725topp said:

AFine1 said:

1725topp said: Can you point out to me where Prince has said he does not "allow" fans to tweet what goes on in the chat room, or have a cartoon image of themselves wearing a symbol necklace that is sold at every concert and for which Prince has profited?

*

Selective or feigned nativity will get you nowhere. Over the years Prince has made it clear that he is overly--often insanely--protective of his imaging, regardless to how fans feel about it. So, Prince has made it clear that anything that the thinks may come close to infringement will be attacked. That's doesn't mean that fans can't be upset if they think Prince has crossed the line, but at this juncture in history you can't be surprised. And, for me, the best thing to do is to accept that this dude is overly protective of his imaging and promotion, not engage in any use of his imaging, and just enjoy what work from him that I enjoy.

Eye have to agree with U! Even though Eye'm not participating in this "save Serpan" crap. It just needs to STOP! Prince has finally created a site 4 fans to have fun & participate in. Then here they go again! They can't wait to find something to crucify Prince & tear him apart about. EYE'M SICK OF IT!

Serpan CROSSED THE LINE! Was scolded about it & told it won't be tolerated anymore.This is Prince image & legacy, that he owns and built for almost 40 years! Obey his wishes & MOVE ON! Before Prince shuts 3EG down. We already have Dr fnb that Prince hand picked. Embrace him! Stop being so ungrateful! Serpan is not or will ever be Prince's publicty agent. Dr Fnb is the man Prince picked 4 his die hards. GET OVER IT!

Also Eye don't care if Eye'm torn to shreds here. Eye already have everything Eye want in my life,

Eye don't need any of your acceptance. Eye sleep well at night..

SpiritOtter said:

1725topp said:

While I agree that one should never be rude or disrespectful to another, in some cases it seems that fans have an exaggerated or delusional notion of their relationship with or role in the career of their favorite artist. The "role" or "place" of a fan is to receive art and to decide if one likes or dislikes the art. The amount of art that one likes and the degree to which one likes the art determines if one is a fan and to what level is one a fan. However, in some cases, people become so enamored with an artist that they want to be more than just fans or they begin to exaggerate what it means to be a fan to feel a part of the artist's work or life. However, if an artist has made it clear, like Prince has, that he isn't interested in fans who think they need to help him promote something or "keep his legacy alive" by posting his work on YouTube or other sites, then one should either respect Prince’s wishes regarding his "copyrighted" material or find another artist to worship...err I mean enjoy.

*

At this point, most of us know who and what Prince is and what type of relationship he wants with his fans. But, many of us see the types of relationships that other artists have with their fans and desire a similar type of relationship with Prince. Yet, Prince is not those other artists, and he has made it clear from day one that he is not those other artists. So, if Prince has made it clear that he doesn't want his fans posting his work to various sites for any reason, why would one be surprised by a negative response from Prince when a fan does something that Prince has made clear he doesn't want done? Only a fool would be surprised or angered by Prince's reaction. The logical thing would be to say "my bad," and stop doing it. Even as a person with bootlegs, do I think it would be wise for me to approach Prince and say, "Dude, I love the bootlegs of the Dakota show and the ten LOL shows that I have"? It would be even more foolish if I actually expected Prince to be happy about it.

*

Of course, some will ask, then why am I a member of Prince.org and earlier of Housequake.com and even earlier Controversy and Uptown? I'm a member of Prince.org and was a member of the others because it is the easiest way to get Prince information. Yes, I engage in discourse about the art, but my primary reason for being here is to learn about the latest album, appearance, or tour. (So, NPG Music Club was cool to me for the access to music. I never chatted on there because all I want is music--audio and video.) The rest (especially chatting online with other fans) is just extra to me, and, in many cases, that extra is a negative waste of time, but there are also several on this site who do offer objective insight about Prince's art regardless of whether or not I agree with their position. And while Serpan seems to be interested in "promoting" Prince, he was doing so in ways that seems to infringe on what Prince views as welcomed. Yes, Prince could have sent him a private letter, but it seems that Prince views Serpan's actions not as an isolated incident but as one aspect of how many fans seem, again, to exaggerate their role or place in Prince's career.

*

I think that Housequake is second only to Controversy as a great place for Prince fans to discuss their admiration for Prince’s work. (If you’re counting, then, yes, that means I have Prince.org listed as third. Yet, I must say that the moderators of both Housequake and Prince.org did/do a wonderful job!) But, many of us did abuse Housequake by posting unauthorized audio and video when the site had been asked not to do so. Prince probably could have handled the situation better, but many (and I’m not including the moderators in this group) kept ignoring the request and became adversarial to the requests to stop. A relationship is about defining what each party wants, defining the boundaries of those desires, and then determining if each party can be happy with those terms. Clearly, many of you are not happy with the terms and relationship Prince desires to maintain with his "fans" so it seems that maybe instead of constantly bitching and whining about it y’all should just find another artist who desires to have the type of relationship with fans that you desire to have with an artist. All I want is access to the music, and few other artists have done as much this year as Prince has as giving us access to the music. One may not like the music to which one has been given access, but your ass has been given access.

*

Let me be clear; I don't know Serpan as well as many of you, obviously, so my comments are not about Serpan but about what I see as many fans having an exaggerated or delusional perception of what it means to be a fan. All I want to do is receive art from an artist, enjoy that art in my home and car, during live shows, and, in some cases, have informative discussions with others who also enjoy that work. But, it seems that I have a much more defined line drawn in the sand of where "fandom" ends and infringement begins. Ultimately, Prince has said to his fans over the years: "I don't want your help promoting my work." This has been made clear to us. We either accept it and continue to enjoy the art that we get, or we find other artists to worship...err I mean enjoy who want us to be more involved in promoting their work. Since I'm too lazy to promote anybody else's work than mine, I'll just stick to enjoying Prince's work since I still do.

[Edited 7/27/13 13:58pm]

1725topp,

I agree in almost every respect with your line of thought. So, thank you for your contribution.

I must add, though, that from a relational perspective, Prince's representative's tone, approach and level of professionalism leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, regardless of whether Prince's represenative is in fact - and objectively - "right" about Prince's stance, copyright and the law, the execution of that representative's communication strategy was so poor, that it comes across as amateur. Furthermore, it comes across as condescending. Whilst these are subjective viewpoints, the reality is that the objective stance effectively loses ground and goodwill by the consequences of a subjective backlash. A professional and sensitive handling of communication and PR issues should surely be utilised, especially when one is (it would appear) trying to reach out to a community, as Prince is clearly trying to do here via this channel i.e. to build a relationship with his customer base (fans). Perhaps, there appears to be a strong response to the represenative (and, by default, Prince) because they do not understand the relational dynamic, but I actually think the issue is less about a lack of understanding and more about an inability to conduct an operation professionally. I genuinely believe these types of relationship building issues should be handled by a professional team. Yet these types of PR mistakes have been happening for over a decade. For the commonplace fan, I imagine it becomes difficult to respect the line, when the line drawn has been consistenly done without (it would appear) any genuine degree of relational sensitivity and discernable judgement. Whilst your points are effectively "correct" from almost every respect, it seems you have failed to understand the biggest point: emotion.

Of course, I could be wrong.

.

[Edited 7/27/13 14:38pm]

There was no "representative" speaking here, it was Prince chatting in person.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Obey his wishes & MOVE ON! Before Prince shuts 3EG down. We already have Dr fnb that Prince hand picked. Embrace him! Stop being so ungrateful!

Another clown washed up in the cult ...

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Eye have to agree with U! Even though Eye'm not participating in this "save Serpan" crap. It just needs to STOP! Prince has finally created a site 4 fans to have fun & participate in. Then here they go again! They can't wait to find something to crucify Prince & tear him apart about. EYE'M SICK OF IT!

Serpan CROSSED THE LINE! Was scolded about it & told it won't be tolerated anymore.This is Prince image & legacy, that he owns and built for almost 40 years! Obey his wishes & MOVE ON! Before Prince shuts 3EG down. We already have Dr fnb that Prince hand picked. Embrace him! Stop being so ungrateful! Serpan is not or will ever be Prince's publicty agent. Dr Fnb is the man Prince picked 4 his die hards. GET OVER IT!

Also Eye don't care if Eye'm torn to shreds here. Eye already have everything Eye want in my life,

Eye don't need any of your acceptance. Eye sleep well at night..

As of right now, there are 75,606 comments on the livestream chat...so 3EG wants fans to scroll through almost 76,000 comments (most of which are made by fans) to find the random nuggets of useful information that they post in there? That doesn't seem to be a very efficient delivery system.

Serpan, by highlighting the useful information that has been posted on there, was helping the fans who don't have time to read through all of those comments, and I appreciate his efforts.

I don't see any indication that Serpan was trying to be Prince's "publicity agent." He was simply trying to help out the fans who have lives to live but yet still want to find out what their favorite artist is up to. The fact that you somehow consider that "crossing the line" says volumes about your warped perspective on the issue, in my opinion.

If Prince wants to "shut 3EG down" because people are interested in talking about it, then he should do so.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

theblueangel said:

I never said that 3EG was obligated to give news on the livestream site. I simply said that occasionally they do, and I don't see anything wrong with another fan passing that info on to those of us who missed it. And if Prince sees something wrong with that, then he should accept that he can't control everything and just move on.

theblueangel said:

Prince is an a*se. Nothing new in Prince world:

Prince hates his most dedicated fans..

What is really strange though, Serpan did HELP a lot of other fans, including me, - to actually understand what happened on that 3EG site.

Serpan is great! Prince should really THANK a guy like Serpan.

Strange, that is so strange.. what is happening....

theblueangel said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Eye have to agree with U! Even though Eye'm not participating in this "save Serpan" crap. It just needs to STOP! Prince has finally created a site 4 fans to have fun & participate in. Then here they go again! They can't wait to find something to crucify Prince & tear him apart about. EYE'M SICK OF IT!

Serpan CROSSED THE LINE! Was scolded about it & told it won't be tolerated anymore.This is Prince image & legacy, that he owns and built for almost 40 years! Obey his wishes & MOVE ON! Before Prince shuts 3EG down. We already have Dr fnb that Prince hand picked. Embrace him! Stop being so ungrateful! Serpan is not or will ever be Prince's publicty agent. Dr Fnb is the man Prince picked 4 his die hards. GET OVER IT!

Also Eye don't care if Eye'm torn to shreds here. Eye already have everything Eye want in my life,

Eye don't need any of your acceptance. Eye sleep well at night..

As of right now, there are 75,606 comments on the livestream chat...so 3EG wants fans to scroll through almost 76,000 comments (most of which are made by fans) to find the random nuggets of useful information that they post in there? That doesn't seem to be a very efficient delivery system.

Serpan, by highlighting the useful information that has been posted on there, was helping the fans who don't have time to read through all of those comments, and I appreciate his efforts.

I don't see any indication that Serpan was trying to be Prince's "publicity agent." He was simply trying to help out the fans who have lives to live but yet still want to find out what their favorite artist is up to. The fact that you somehow consider that "crossing the line" says volumes about your warped perspective on the issue, in my opinion.

If Prince wants to "shut 3EG down" because people are interested in talking about it, then he should do so.

Eye understand totally what your saying! But Prince has always lived in the here & now. His motto is "catch it while U can or miss out". He is the same way about his surprise after shows or his moments notice tour stops. If U can't purchase the tickets then and it sales out. U just missed out! That is how life is! U never can go back to what has passed.

What Serpan did was mess up Prince's here & now thinking & the whole concept. It defeated the purpose of what 3EG tv is about! Prince wants us 2 experience it LIVE! That is why the email notifications is set up. If U catch it! U still can rewind it back in dvr mode and view it.If not U just missed out. Fans! U are really going to mess up this good thing we have going. By sabotaging it with this save Serpan crap.

Its not worth it in the end. We are going to lose a good thing. Serpan is not Jesse! He is not going to fly him out to Paisley Park for tea to get him to forgive him, because your upset about it. Prince has better things to do! Like prepare to perform & rehearse his npg band, go in the studio and record or pull out more "Masterpieces" from his vault & remix them. LET HIM BE!. Enjoy what he has given us.